Wednesday, November 25, 2015

The time has finally come for us to release our inaugural
Special Edition. Earlier this year we rolled out our first W.A. Karas Signature
Limited Edition pens. But during the process of working on those pens, we
started to brainstorm ideas around Special Edition pieces as well. The idea was
to include some other companies that had similar a similar outlook on being
American “makers”. It wasn’t hard for us to decide on Nock Co. as our first
partner. It also helped that they were in the works creating yet another
stellar pen/notepad case. So our brainstorming began to take on a more focused
approach. The stars pretty much aligned when Dan sat down and started work on
designing the Karas Pen Co notebooks. As he finalized the Arizona state flag
onto the notebook, we realized a great first Special Edition would take on an
Arizona theme.

It’s probably not a surprise to anyone that we take pride in
the “Made in America” branding. But we have always felt that “Made in Arizona”
is another equally important descriptor of Karas Kustoms and Karas Pen Co. With
that in mind and our new Arizona themed notebooks we set out to create an
Arizona themed Special Edition. An edition that carries elements of the Copper
State laid out in a manner that fits both Karas and Nock Co. The Karas Pen Co.
Superstition is the culmination of all of this hard work.

This special edition takes its name from the Superstition
Mountains, a range of mountains that run just east of the Phoenix metropolitan
area. They are anchored by Superstition Mountain itself, a large mountain that
is a popular tourist and hiking spot. The Superstition Mountains are famous for
their central role in the legend of the Lost Dutchman’s Gold Mine, as the mine
itself is said to be hidden somewhere in the Superstition Mountains. Nock Co.
has gone out of its way to name their cases after well-known Georgian land
features. With that in our minds we wanted to pay tribute not only to Arizona
but to them and we affectionately named our version of the case The
Superstition.

The special edition features the starting piece of this
project, the Karas Pen Co Arizona State flag notebook. But we went and added
some other touches of the Copper State. The Superstition has a custom Karas Pen
Co logo with the Arizona State flag stitched into it. It is lined and stitched
in blue that brings to mind the blue on the state flag. The pen included is a
custom Karas Kustoms EDK, with a copper lower barrel and red upper barrel. The
red is reminiscent of the red rays on the state flag. To top it off we are
adding our first foray into bead making with a nice copper lanyard bead that
can be used as a zipper pull.

The case is one of our personal favorites. It is designed to
hold three pens and two pocket sized notebooks or a stack of 3x5 notecards. It
can also be slightly expanded to hold two additional pens, though it’s not
specifically designed for that. I have also successfully carried my cell phone
in it. It’s a pretty versatile small case perfect for carrying around a few
pens and some paper.

Keep your eyes glued to our blog and Instagram accounts for
the official release date of the Karas Pen Co Superstition special edition.
This special edition is a limited run of 120 sets. Once these sets are sold we
will not be doing another run.

Wednesday, November 18, 2015

For those of you that don't follow us on Instagram or haven't signed up for our newsletter, we had some big news this past Monday. After nearly a year, we re-released the INK fountain pen and added the INK clipless fountain pen. We have talked about the design changes so I won't go into full details, suffice it to say they look amazing. One thing we didn't go over was the addition of black anodized sections. Once they come back from anodized, we will have them added to our line-up. Really a cool design feature.

But we didn't just stop there. Today, we released the production Fountain K in Tumbled Aluminum, Brass, and Copper. The Silver Aluminum and full colors will be added in the following weeks. We have finished the overall design changes on this pen as well, increasing the grip section width was the main objective while also redesigning the section to fit the Bock .060 nib unit. We feel it is a complete success and can't wait for all of our awesome customers to get a chance to try it out.

We still have plenty of EDK pens available. Our Massdrop Exclusive was a success, as well as our initial release via our own website. We really appreciate all the time several of our reviewers put into testing out this pen. It was kind of a labor of love for us to get this one done. We love the pen design and the functionality and have been putting a lot of effort into finalizing it. If you haven't checked it out, you should give it a whirl.

We aren't completely done with the surprises yet. We have one more left before we close out the 2015 calendar year. Probably the most exciting one yet (for me anyway). Our W.A. Karas Signature pens were a big success, those were some of my favorite pens this year. Getting the INK and Fountain K back in stock is a big one. And the EDK actually making its way onto our website is the icing on the cake. But all cakes need a cherry on top, and the cherry we are working on is gonna take the cake to another level. So keep your eyes peeled to our social media platforms and if you haven't signed up for our newsletter, make sure you do that. You are NOT going to want to miss out on our final goodie for 2015. Just trust me on that one!

Tuesday, November 3, 2015

Fountain Pen Day falls on the first Friday of November. Guess what, that's this week! In honor of Fountain Pen Day and due to the fact that we have a few of our Karas Kustoms INKs back from the anodizer, we are giving one of them away. Plus we know everyone loves free stuff. On to the details.

We are giving away Karas Kustoms INK "Arizona Edition", red anodized with a copper section and clipless cap. This pen will be the first INK to leave the shop since we made design changes from the original run. To briefly go over the changes, here we go. We switched from a Schmidt #5 nib to a Bock #6 nib. This allows us to offer EF nibs as well as provide a high quality writing experience. The nib is semi-recessed in the section to give the pen its own aesthetic look and as an homage to some of the early recessed nibbed pens. We added copper and brass to the mix when we expanded from just using those materials on the grip sections to complete barrels and caps, so now you can get an INK that is completely copper to dazzle your friends and family. We changed the inner threads on the section to add some stability (it wasn't necessary but just ensure the section screws in nice and holds the converter in place a little better). Finally we are adding the clipless cap to these pens due to many people expressing a desire for that feature.

Three Runner Up prizes will be awarded randomly and will include
Fountain Pen Day bookmarks, buttons and a Karas Kustoms notebook along
with a mystery gift for each of the runner ups from our box of random
giveaway items

So here's the lowdown on the giveaway. To enter you will need to post a comment below. In the comment tell us your favorite fountain pen, first fountain pen, or why you want to get into fountain pens. All entries will
be assigned a number and the random number generator at www.random.org will be utilized to pick a
winner. The winner will be chosen on November 9th, at 5pm Arizona time.

We will announce the winners on the blog as well as via the @karaspenco Instagram if you follow us there.